Do you sublet your rented home long-term?

Central is the consent of the primary landlord under § 540 BGB. What form this consent should take and under what circumstances it cannot be refused depends on the specific tenancy agreement and the constellation.

The BGH ruling VIII ZR 228/23 of January 2026 clarified at what level of surcharge above one's own base rent subletting is classified as profit-generating — with the consequence that termination of the main tenancy without notice can come into play. This threshold applies to long-term subletting too.

The detailed analysis for this constellation — typical structures of consent requests, Berlin-specific thresholds, notification duties — is in preparation.